'So that's why they kill..' The thought kept racing through the Emperor's mind like he was repeating his reply. There was some time before he had to leave, Wu Hai remained at the forge talking to Gefést for a few hours and then ventured out into the Carnival. Lot of new races moved in and out of the City, having such a rich history, it was no surprise that under a different set of rulers it had prospered.
"These are pretty accurate." Wu Hai stared at some of the rides, their mechanical functions were either replace or upgraded with magic tools. "I wonder what else we'll eventually be making?" He had said it under his breath but a shadow appeared. Thinking about their functions, magic could do a lot of things but it couldn't perform every task.
"Sir." He remained hidden but under the Emperor's detection.
"No need for formalities, please don't draw unwanted attention either." Wu Hai waved the man off, the stealth team monitored all sensitive areas, the forge and Gefést's security was among the most sensitive of all.
"Sir." Dropping back into the shadow, he disappeared and obeyed the Emperor's command.
Wu Hai didn't know where he was going for rest of the Night, he had considered returning to his bedroom but felt restless. 'What the hell..' He went home and into the library, there were a lot of things that he had considered doing before but practical application of magic and its uses were a distant dream in the past.
Countless drawings appeared in front of him, filling the table. Some were more minor than others but in the end, only a few devices would be created. 'Tens of thousands, millions of moving parts'
He worked through the night and in the Morning, he got an ear full from Kuzunoha and Vira. It wasn't like him to disappear on them in the middle of the night and he hadn't come back to the room after returning.
"What are you working on?" Vira asked casually, there were a lot of drawings so she just picked one up. It was a level, bubbles in a fluid suspension attached to a straight bar. "What is this suppose to do?"
"That's just a drawing of a level." Wu Hai didn't feel like explaining everything so he just explained that they were parts.
"And this?" Kuzunoha picked up a stick with a grip attached, it looked more or less like a steering wheel.
"All in time. This project is less important than the other one." Wu Hai skid a book with the details over.
Kuzunoha perused the contents and set it down, keeping her hand on the book. "You can't be serious. Just when I thought you have gotten all of this out of your system you wanna go and do this?" She paced back and forth, on the third pass she handed the book to Vira, it contained many secrets but Vira was now bound to Wu Hai.
"Oh! I'm jealous. This is much, much bigger an aspiration than I ever had. I approve." Vira laughed and plopped the book onto the table. "That's a lot of work, do you even have the manpower to handle that sort of thing?"
Wu Hai shook his head, "No. It will also take a number of years to make the parts. When I have the plan formalized, I intend to talk to Munju... Oh yeah, so.. Munju and Gefést are Ultinian."
Kuzunoha decided to share her thoughts, "Neither of those fellows was ever considered normal, its not all that surprising. Does that change the way you feel about them?"
"No. Maybe Munju, we found him on Earth and I can't explain that yet. I intend to ask him though." Wu Hai swept up the paperwork and leaned across his desk to kiss Kuzunoha, Vira ran around complaining about being hungry.
As a family, they all decided to get breakfast. Vira ate some of the food that Qu's attendants had made earlier, it was a bloodstew and was something she was craving. Her appetite was growing. "Phachou-uu-ie"
Vira laid back in her chair and looked like she had over eaten.
Wu Hai and Kuzunoha began to laugh gently and the girls went to go take their morning baths. "I'll be in there in a moment." Wu Hai grabbed some towels, one of them fell to the floor.
When picking it up, he remembered something, a vision of his past life. It had been many years since he had visions, or memories that flashed while he was awake. Whatever he called them, they had long since stopped and its happening came at a strange time. 'Earth..' Wu Hai gripped his fists with a bit of hostility, stood up and marched into the shower to vent.
Hot water and countless passionate moans echoed throughout the Emperor's bedroom and the whole floor.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
Arriving in Greensong, the group made their way to find Mike and then to the 'Dragon's Share.'
Munju was standing outside of the building and expecting them. "Greetings, Emperor."
"Hello, Mr. Munju. Lets talk inside. We have much to discuss." Wu Hai's temperament had settled and in this moment, he was as cold and unflinching as Ice.
Munju gulped and led the way inside. Once they arrived in the secure research division, he offered everyone a place to sit. "So, what business brings the Emperor here today?"
Half the day passed in an instant, the Emperor brought out his designs and stunned the production floor managers. "This size, this scale... it would take.." Doing the calculations in his head, the foreman turned. "With who we have on hand, this could take as little as 16 years or as long as a century. How many resources and what level of manpower is the Emperor willing to spare for this project?"
"15 years? How did you come up with that estimate?" Wu Hai asked.
"I said 16 years at minimum and its a simple math problem, distance and maximum relevant connection between moving parts." The Foreman shook his head, "You could get the help of Zao City and its western mountain forge co-op. If you want to get this done within 16 years, you'll have to commit several thousand Earth magic users, no less than 4 thousand and this is just an estimate."
"Four thousand workers, for 16 years.. that's intense." Wu Hai put the figure sheet down and drew on the whiteboard. "What if its forty thousand?"
"That is too many people, consistency would suffer." Munju stopped the conversation. "These things, they aren't as easy to make as either of you make them out to be. Each one contains many formations, a single error and.. no, this needs to be planned and coordinated. I can get consistency to stay relative by forcing the plans onto crystals and directly giving the blueprints to everyone involved but this is a security risk too. They will have intricate knowledge of the formations and inner workings of the device."
"I see, so then, Even If I were to gather all the workers we have and toil endlessly for fifteen years, it cannot be done? oh. Sorry, sixteen years." The Emperor corrected himself, assuring that he had it right.
Munju shook his head again. "I don't think your majesty is getting the point. Fifteen years is a long term commitment, a serious one that will not only stall development of the Empire but cause unknown mental effects on the people working. 15 years repeating the same thing over and over, how could they not hate the job. For Humans, this is a marked percentage of their entire lifetime and cannot be ignored." He took another step forward and grabbed one of the plans, a doorway. "This is artful. Did your majesty come up with this by himself?"
'Hmmph' "Of course, I spend most of my downtime with my wives and my thoughts. These were just some musings at first but now I'd like to know if you have developed on their application. If so, I have some modifications and specifics on the designs." Wu Hai crossed his arms and looked to Vira and Kuzunoha. "What about a bloodoath contract?"
Munju sat down and rubbed his chin, "Its a bit barbaric and I don't know if it will blow over smoothly. However, you can always place it as a prerequisite for this project before they sign up. If you keep it to higher ranked people you might be able to get about one thousand workers fairly quickly but again, at my estimate, five thousand will be the barest of minimum if you wanted it completed within 100 years."
"I thought you said 16 years." Wu Hai was confused.
"Yeah, 16 years, that's if we mobilize everyone with Earth abilities and that simply won't happen without stunting the development of the Empire. There is another route that perhaps the Emperor hasn't considered." Munju stopped talking for dramatic pause, causing Wu Hai's face to crinkle in disapproval.
He smiled, "You could make more Espers. This is a huge problem, from what I've gathered from the Emperor's expression. So, why not get the truthers involved. Surely five or even fifteen thousand people who are trust worthy could be selected from the population to receive Earth abilities. This secret that you can bestow abilities will no longer be a secret if your plan is successful. If you're searching for a different outcome, I'm afraid that will be mostly impossible."
"Yes, I know. However, my personal involvement will be necessary and fifteen thousand people.. yeesh. At two minutes each that's still not a bad option, considering. Still, Does the Empire really need another fifteen thousand earth magic users?" Wu Hai asked someone objectively.
"Sir. There is always after. As you have put it, the Empire will surely be in need of talent. Fifteen, aahhh.. see, now you have me doing it. Sixteen years, is a lot of time to perfect ones actions through repetition. The Sect, no.. The Empire might surprise you." Munju sighed.
Kuzunoha had been waiting patiently with Vira by the side watching and listening to the whole thing. "If you were to ask my opinion, I think this is going to be too much, too fast. But, how else can this be done? Ripping off the bandaid is the only way this is going to work." She turned to Vira. "Sister. This plan. It will alter the face of this world within a century, as a long standing outsider you have the right to at least voice an opinion on the matter, What do you think?"
"I think.." Vira shrugged and opened her mouth, she pulled up a finger and said "I think that nothing like this as ever been attempted. Your actions, even if they prove to be a catastrophe will be marked in the history of all the races. No, it will be carved."
Kuzunoha hadn't expected Vira's reply, she wanted to retort but really, she had nothing to add.
"That's well said." Mr. Munju asked, "What's the second thing?"
"Oh? The second thing?... well, I guess its that I want to see this happen. This is too good an idea, what ambitious thoughts.." She stared into Kuzunoha's eyes and then at the Emperor, "Your ambition is now my will so I will do whatever is necessary. If you cannot find humans, surely you cannot refuse disposable demons." Vira laughed gently.
"Why would I want to sacrifice people.. no, we won't be disposing of demons if they participate but I would like to find a different route. Slave labor doesn't sit well with our cultures. So, What about it? Are you in or not?" Wu Hai had a sincere look on his face, he was going to do the work even if it meant doing it without the 'Dragon's Share.'
"Oh we're in.. but, its going to take a lot of prep work. Are you 100% sure that this is the course of action you want to take?" Munju asked once more before gathering his workers to announce their new projects.
"From what I've been told, I should expect to have to do this at some point in the future, hesitation never did me any good. I think I'll stick with my instincts, we go through with the plan." Wu Hai placed his hand on the table. "We begin at dawn."